THE THINGS YOU MUST DO. NINE STEPS TO BEING RECRUITED.
An adaptation of Michael Clarke's internet article
8 Steps to Getting Recruited in Active.com Magazine
PARTICIPATION
Participate in the sports you love, be dedicated to them and learn every aspect of the game.
TAKE THE RIGHT CLASSES
Long before college catalogs clog mailboxes, and recruiting tapes are viewed, a student-athlete takes classes in their freshman year of high school that directly affect their NCAA eligibility.of the game.
REGISTER WITH THE NCAA
It used to be called the NCAA clearinghouse, but now it's the NCAA Eligibility Center that students must register with to validate their status as an amateur athlete.
MAKE YOUR LIST(S)
Before you compile a list of 200 schools you would just die to play for, remember the function of the list is to help you focus your search going into your sophomore and junior year, not overly complicate the process with unrealistic expectations.
MAKE YOUR VIDEO
The recruiting video is one of the most important ways an athlete can attract the attention of coaches at the university level.
The structure and contents of your video will depend on the sport being promoted. Play-by-play sports such as volleyball, football baseball generally work best with a collection of 15-25 highlight plays that illustrate an athlete's ability. Sports such as soccer, basketball and lacrosse should have 10 to 15 highlight plays--with an additional game half includedand
RESEARCH THE SCHOOLS
This task used to be a lot more difficult 10 years ago. But with the rise of the internet there is a multitude of recruiting information, both official and unofficial, about virtually any college or university you're interested in.
For starters, check out the school's website to find out the best coach or school official to contact. For smaller schools, individual e-mail addresses for coaches can be found quite easily, as they often view the website as a promotional tool for their institution.
MAKE FIRST CONTACT
Now it's time to place yourself on a college's radar in an aggressive--but friendly--way. It used to be this could wait until your junior year, but with the pace of youth sports increasing all the time, it's probably a good idea to begin contacting coaches in the summer before your sophomore year.
So what do you include in your e-mail or letter to the coach? Well, some sort of introduction explaining who you are and why you're contacting them. (Keep it short-- coaches are busy.)
SAY NO TO RECRUITING SERVIES!
IMPROVE YOUR GAME & EXPOSURE
Sports camps generally serve two different functions: to help an athlete get better and to help an athlete get noticed. Some sports camps, especially those at universities you've targeted, can often do both at the same time.
(Many coaches find camps a great way to fill out their rosters.)
Unfortunately, those hoping a few days at a university camp will magically get an athlete recruited, without having established rapport with that institution beforehand, are often disappointed.
MAKE YOUR FINAL DECISION
Ok. It's your senior year and, hopefully, you have a few offers on the table. So what do you do? How do you narrow it down to the one school that is right for you? Choose a university that offers you the best environment for athletic, academic and personal development.
